Nutritional epidemiology provides important information on disease prevention and health management. Facing the rising public concerns of chronic disease, nutritional epidemiology becomes an important component of China’s overall health research agenda. This study reviewed and classified nutritional epidemiology research in China during the past two decades, aiming at identifying the major trends and possible gaps in terms of the study topic and study content. Study population, study design, exposure, outcome and geographic information of each study were extracted using a coding sheet to explore the trend of the characteristics and interests over time. The results show that China has experienced a rapid increase in the number of nutritional epidemiology studies and a continuously expanded diversity in the outcomes and exposures. It is crucial that research effort and funding be allocated across outcomes and exposures that are most relevant for the nutrition-related health concerns to be anticipated in the future.